MEMORIAL 

/ 

TO  THE 

/ 

Congress  of  the  United  States 


FROM  THE 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

/ 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSISSIPPI. 


Nashville,  Tenn.: 

MARSHALL  &  BRUCE  CO.,  STATIONERS  AND  PRINTERS. 
1894. 


This  Memorial  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
has  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  action  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Mississippi,  taken 
June  12,  1893,  when  it  was  resolved:  “That  the  Chan¬ 
cellor  be  requested  to  prepare  a  memorial  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  asking  the  grant  to  this  University 
of  a  township  of  land  for  the  reasons  outlined  in  his  re¬ 
port  this  day  made ;  that  he  submit  such  memorial,  when 
prepared,  for  signatures  of  each  member  of  this  Board,, 
and  that  when  signed  by  as  many  as  twelve  (12)  mem¬ 
bers  of  this  Board,  the  same  shall  be  treated  as,  and  it 
shall  be,  the  memorial  of  this  Board,  and  the  Chancellor 
will  be  authorized  to  lay  the  same  before  Congress.” 

Robert  B.  Fulton, 

Chancellor . 

University  of  Mississippi, 

December  16,  1893. 


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1 . 


MEMORIAL. 


From  Yol.  XIX.  of  “House  Miscellaneous  Docu¬ 
ments,”  second  session  of  the  Forty-seventh  Congress, 
being  the  “History  of  the  Public  Domain,”  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  the  Public  Land  Commission,  by 
Thomas  Donaldson,  and  published  by  the  Public  Land 
Commission  in  1884  as  the  official  history  of  the  public 
domain  and  of  the  acts  of  Congress  relating  thereto,  the 
following  extracts-  are  taken  as  an  introduction  to  a  de¬ 
tailed  statement  regarding  the  grant  of  land  made  by 
Congress  for  the  support  of  a  seminary  of  learning  in  the 
State  of  Mississippi. 

F rom  page  223  : 

The  lands  granted  in  the  States,  and  reserved  in  the  Territories  for 
educational  purposes  by  acts  of  Congress  from  1785  to  June,  1880, 
were — 

FOR  PUBLIC  OR  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

Every  sixteenth  section  of  public  land  in  the  States  admitted  prior  to 
1848,  and  every  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  section  of  such  land  in  States 
and  Territories  since  organized — estimated  at  67,893,919  acres. 


FOR  SEMINARIES  OR  UNIVERSITIES. 

The  quantity  of  two  townships,  or  46,080  acres,  in  each  State  or  Ter¬ 
ritory  containing  public  land,  and,  in  some  instances  a  greater  quantity, 
for  the  support  of  seminaries  or  schools  of  higher  grade,  estimated  at 
1,165,520  acres. 


—  6  — 


FOR  AGRICULTURAL  AND  MECHANICAL  COLLEGES. 

.  .  .  .  Land  in  place,  1,770,000  acres;  land  scrip,  7,830,000 

acres;  total,  9,600,000  acres. 

From  page  226 : 

UNIVERSITIES. 

July  23,  1787,  Congress,  in  the  “Powers  io  the  Board  of  Treasury  to 
contract  for  the  sale  of  Western  Territory ,”  ordered — 

That  not  more  than  two  complete  townships  be  given  perpetually  for 
the  purpose  of  an  university,  to  be  laid  off  by  the  purchaser  or  pur¬ 
chasers  as  near  the  center  as  may  be,  so  that  the  same  shall  be  of  good 
land,  to  be  applied  to  the  intended  object  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
State. 

This  related  to  lands  now  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  the  Sy  mines  and 
Ohio  Company  purchases.  This  inaugurated  the  present  method  of  tak¬ 
ing  from  the  public  lands,  for  the  support  of  schools  or  seminaries  of  a 
higher  grade,  the  quantity  of  two  townships  at  least,  and  in  some  in¬ 
stances  more  to  each  of  the  States  containing  public  lands,  and  special 
grants  have  also  been  made  to  private  enterprises. 

In  the  legislation  relating  to  the  admission  of  public  land  States  into 
the  Union,  from  the  admission  of  Ohio  in  1802.  to  the  admission  of  Col¬ 
orado  in  1876,  grants  of  two  townships  of  public  lands,  viz.  :  46,080 
acres,  each  for  university  purposes,  are  enumerated.  Ohio,  Florida, 
Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota  are  the  exceptions,  each  having  received  more 
than  two  townships  in  area. 

Nineteen  States  (up  to  1882)  have  had  the  benefit  of  this  provision, 
and  the  two  townships  are  reserved  in  the  Territories  of  Washington, 
New  Mexico,  and  Utah.  These  will  be  granted  and  confirmed  to  them 
upon  their  admission  into  the  Union. 

From  page  228 : 


UNIVERSITY  GRANTS. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  number  of  acres  granted  to  the 
States  and  reserved  in  the  Territories  of  Washington,  New  Mexico,  and 
Utah,  for  university  purposes,  by  acts  of  Congress,  the  dates  of  which 
are  given  in  proper  column  : 


GRANTS  AND  RESERVATIONS  FOR  UNIVERSITIES. 


States  and  Territories. 

Total  Area, 
Acres. 

Under  what  Acts. 

Ohio . 

69,120 

April  21,  1792;  March  3,  1803. 

Indiana . 

46,080* 

April  19,  1816;  March  26,  1804. 

Illinois . 

46,080 

March  26,  1804;  April  18,  1818. 

Missouri . 

46,080 

February  17,  1818;  March  6,  1820. 

Alabama . 

46,080 

April  20,  1818;  March  2,  1819. 

Mississippi . 

OS 

"b 

OO 

o 

March  3,  1803;  February  20,  1819. 

Louisiana . 

46,080 

April  21,  1806;  March  3,  1811  ;  March  3,  1827. 

Michigan  ...... 

46,080 

June  23,  1836. 

Arkansas . 

46,080 

June  23,  1836. 

Florida . 

92,160 

March  3,  1845. 

Iowa . 

46,080 

March  3,  1845. 

Wisconsin . 

92,160 

August  6,  1846;  December  15,  1854. 

California . 

46,080 

March  3,  1853. 

Minnesota . 

82,640 

March  2,  1861  ;  February  26,  1857 ;  July  8,  1870. 

Oregon  . 

46,080 

February  14,  1859;  March  2,  1861. 

Kansas . 

46,080 

January  29,  1861. 

Nevada  . 

46,080 

July  4,  1866. 

Nebraska . 

46,080 

April  19,  1864. 

Colorado . 

46,080 

March  3,  1875. 

Washington  Territory . 

46,080 

July  17,  1854;  March  14,  1864. 

New  Mexico  Territory 

46,080 

July  22,  1854. 

Utah  Territory  .... 

46,080 

February  21,  1855. 

Total . 1,165,520 

From  page  1250 : 

UNIVERSITY  GRANTS  TO  DAKOTA,  ARIZONA,  IDAHO,  AND  WYOMING 

TERRITORIES. 

Two  townships  of  23,040  acres  each,  six  miles  square,  or  46,080  acres 
were  reserved  by  the  act  of  February  18,  1881,  for  a  university  in  each 
of  the  Territories  above  named.  .  .  .  All  existing  Terri¬ 

tories  and  political  divisions,  save  the  District  of  Columbia,  Indian  Territory , 
and  A  laska  now  have  university  grants. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  acts  of  Congress  cited 
above,  and  which  may  be  readily  found  in  the  volumes 
entitled  “ Land  Laws  of  the  United  States compiled  under 
the  direction  of  the  Public  Land  Commission ,  by  Alexander 
T.  Britton,  will  show  clearly  that  in  the  case  of  each  and 


*  Three  townships  actually  granted  to  Territorial  and  State  Legislatures,  as  is  shown  on  p.  17. 
t  Only  one  township  received  by  Territory  or  State  of  Mississippi,  as  shown  in  this  Memorial. 


—  8  — 


every  State  and  Territory  named  in  the  foregoing  list,  the 
acts  of  Congress  were  so  framed  as  to  secure,  beyond  ques¬ 
tion,  to  each  a  clear  title,  without  incumbrance  of  any 
kind,  to  not  less  than  two  townships  of  public  land  for  the 
support  of  a  seminary  of  learning ,  excepting  only  the 
State  of  Mississippi.  In  every  other  case  the  grant  of 
two  townships  was  made  not  merely  in  the  State,  but  to 
the  State  or  its  Legislature ,  in  trust  for  the  purpose  named. 
The  plan  generally  followed  in  the  legislation  of  Congress 
was,  first,  when  a  territory  was  organized,  to  reserve  from 
sale  one  township  (or  two)  for  the  support  of  a  seminary 
of  learning  therein,  and  then,  when  the  Territory  was  or¬ 
ganized  into  a  State,  to  grant  to  the  State,  or  in  trust  to 
its  Legislature  for  the  purpose  named,  two  townships. 
This  first  step  apparently  was  taken  in  the  act  of  March 
3,  1815,  which  reserved  from  sale  in  the  Mississippi  Ter¬ 
ritory  (then  embracing  the  area  now  included  in  the  States 
of  Alabama  and  Mississippi),  “  one  entire  township,  to  be 
located  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  the  use  of  a 
seminary  of  learning.” 

When  the  Alabama  Territory  was  organized,  by  the 
act  of  April  20,  1818,  there  was  reserved  from  sale  “  in 
the  Alabama  Territory ,  an  entire  township ,  for  the  support  of 
a  seminary  of  learning  within  said  Territory.  By  the  act  of 
March  2,  1819,  this  township  and  another  were  u  vested  in 
the  Legislature  of  said  State  [Alabama],  to  be  appropriated 
solely  to  the  use  of  such  seminary  by  the  said  Legislature .” 

But  what  was  the  legislation  in  regard  to  the  State  of 
Mississippi ,  and  the  grant  for  a  seminary  of  learning  therein  ? 

The  act  of  Congress  making  the  grant  is  dated  Feb¬ 
ruary  20,  1819,  and  its  wording  is  peculiar.  After  the 
usual  grant  for  a  seat  of  government  comes — 


—  9  — 


Sec.  2.  And' be  it  further  enacted,  That  iu  addition  to  the  township  of 
land  granted  for  the  support  of  Jefferson  College,  there  shall  be  granted 
in  the  said  State  another  township,  or  a  quantity  of  land  equal  thereto, 
to  be  located  in  tracts  of  not  less  than  four  entire  sections  each,  which 
shall  be  vested  in  the  Legislature  of  the  said  State,  in  trust  for  the  sup¬ 
port  of  a  seminary  of  learning  therein,  which  lands  shall  be  located  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  whenever  an  extin¬ 
guishment  of  Indian  title  shall  be  made  for  lands  suitable,  in  his  opinion, 
for  that  purpose,  in  the  said  State;  which  grant,  hereby  provided  to  be 
made,  shall  be  considered  as  made  in  lieu  of  a  township  directed  to  be 
reserved  by  the  fifth  section  of  an  act  entitled  “An  act  to  provide  for  the 
ascertaining  and  surveying  of  the  boundary  line  fixed  by  the  treaty  with 
the  Creek  Indians,  and  for  other  purposes,”  passed  March  3,  1815;  and 
which  reserve  of  one  township,  provided  to  be  made  by  the  aforesaid 
fifth  section  of  said  act,  shall  be  offered  for  sale  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  other  public  lands  in  the  same  district. 

The  effect  of  this  act  was  to  give  to  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Mississippi,  in  trust,  for  the  support  of  a 
seminary  of  learning,  only  one  township  of  land ,  instead 
of  two ,  the  minimum  number  granted  to  any  other  State. 
The  reason  for  this  is  undoubtedly  found  in  the  reference 
to  Jefferson  College,  and  in  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
relation  of  that  institution  to  the  State  of  Mississippi. 
Evidently  Congress  regarded  a  donation  of  land  made  to 
Jefferson  College  by  the  acts  of  March  3,  1803,  and  Feb¬ 
ruary  20,  1812,  as  having  been  made  to  the  State  of  Mis¬ 
sissippi,  or  to  an  institution  belonging  to,  or  controlled 
by,  the  Territorial  or  State  Legislature  in  Mississippi. 
An  examination  of  the  charter  and  the  history  of  Jefferson 
College  up  to  the  present  time  will  shoiu  that  this  opinion  was 
entirely  erroneous.  A  copy  of  the  original  act  of  the  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Legislature  in  Mississippi,  incorporating  “The 
trustees  of  Jefferson  College,”  and  passed  May  13,  1802, 
is  appended  to  this  paper.  It  names  the  members  of  the 
original  board  of  trustees,  and  defines  their  organization, 
their  powers,  and  the  purposes  of  their  incorporation. 
It  makes  this  board  a  self-perpetuating  body,  and  this 
2* 


—  10  — 

feature  in  the  charter  was  in  nowise  altered  until  the 
year  1826.  Section  6  of  the  original  charter  states  that, 
“As  Jefferson  College  must,  for  the  present,  be  supported 
by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  citizens,  the  Board  of 
Trustees  are  authorized  to  raise,  for  the  benefit  of  said 
college,  by  lottery,  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten  thousand 
dollars.  They  shall  also  collect  donations  from  the  citi¬ 
zens  of  the  Territory,  and  elsewhere.”  Nothing  else  is 
stated  in  the  charter  regarding  the  revenues  of  the  col¬ 
lege.  Altogether,  the  charter  is  just  such  an  act  of  in¬ 
corporation  as  has  been  repeatedly  adopted  at  the  found¬ 
ing  of  a  college  not  under  the  control  of  the  State  in  any 
way.  To  this  corporation ,  and  not  to  the  people  or  the 
Legislature  of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  Congress  do¬ 
nated  the  township  of  land  which  was  reserved  from  sale 
by  the  act  of  Congress,  dated  March  3,  1803,  and  finally 
granted  by  the  act  of  February  20,  1812.  The  terms  of 
the  grant  in  the  act  last  specified  make  no  mention  of 
the  people,  or  the  Legislature,  or  the  Governor  of  the 
Mississippi  Territory. 

The  historian  of  the  Public  Domain,  in  the  volume 
cited  at  the  beginning  of  this  paper,  on  page  212,  classes 
the  grant  to  Jefferson  College,  under  the  list  of  “ Dona¬ 
tions  and  Special  Grants ,”  and  gives  the  order  of  the  Sec¬ 
retary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  locating  the 
lands,  and  dated  October  5,  1812.  It  is  important  to 
note  that  the  site  of  Jefferson  College  was  near  Natchez, 
in  the  present  limits  of  the  State  of  Mississippi ,  but  the 
township  granted  to  it  was  located  on  the  Tombeckbee 
River,  and  this  location  wag  not  changed  up  to  the  time 
when  the  act  of  Congress  of  February  20,  1819,  was 
passed,  although  at  that  time  the  lands  were  situated  in 
what  had  become  the  separate  Territonj  of  Alabama ,  by 
the  act  of  March  3,  1817. 


— 11  — 


If,  therefore,  in  the  act  of  February  20,  1819,  Congress 
considered  that  the  grant  made  to  Jefferson  Co-1  lege  had 
been  made  to  the  people  or  the  Legislature  of  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  Territory,  it  assumed  that  a  grant  made  to  a 
private  corporation  had  been  made  to  the  people,  and 
assumed  also  that  a  township,  actually  then  located  with¬ 
in  the  limits  of  the  Territory  of  Alabama,  belonged  to 
the  people  of  Mississippi. 

Without  dwelling  upon  the  complications  that  would 
have  arisen  if  Mississippi  had  claimed  the  ownership  of 
a  township  of  land  within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Ala¬ 
bama,  attention  is  called  to  the  fact,  that  from  its  founda¬ 
tion,  in  1802,  to  the  year  1826,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
acts  of  the  Territorial  or  State  Legislatures  in  Mississippi 
indicating  that  Jefferson  College  was  in  any  way  under 
the  control  of  the  State.  It  is  true  that  the  Territorial 
Legislature  in  the  act  of  December  13,  1816,  provided 
for  a  loan  of  money  to  the  trustees  of  Jefferson  College, 
but  it  also  provided  that  “ bond  in  double  the  amount  should 
be  taken”  and  that  suit  should  be  instituted  if  the  funds 
should  not  be  returned  at  the  stipulated  time.  More¬ 
over,  in  the  same  act  of  December  13,  1816,  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  made  donations  of  money  to  two  other  schools — 
Greene  Academy  and  St.  Stephen’s  Academy — which 
were,  in  no  sense,  State  institutions,  and  not  so  regarded 
by  the  Legislature. 

The  Legislature  and  people  of  the  newly-formed  State  of 
Mississippi  were  eager  to  utilize  the  means  for  public  edu¬ 
cation  afforded  in  the  grants  of  land  made  by  Congress 
in  the  act  of  February  20,  1819.  It  was,  however,  at 
once  evident  to  the  Legislature  that  it  would  have  diffi- 
culty  in  securing  control  of  the  township  which  had  been 
granted  by  Congress  to  Jefferson  College,  a  private  cor¬ 
poration.  The  act  of  Congress  of  February  20,  1819, 


—  12  — 


implied  that  the  original  grant  to  Jefferson  College  had 
been  intended  for  the  Territory  and  State  of  Mississippi. 
It  was  evident  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  that  there 
was  no  valid  ground  on  which  it  could  base  a  claim  to 
this  township,  however  much  it  might  desire  to  have  this 
addition  to  the  lands  it  had  received  from  Congress-  for 
the  support  of  common  schools  and  a  seminary  of  learn¬ 
ing.  The  trustees  of  Jefferson  College  seemed  willing  to 
relinquish  some  of  their  rights  as  an  independent  corpora¬ 
tion  if  thereby  they  might  help  the  institution  to  pros¬ 
perity,  or  gain  assistance  from  the  State. 

The  following  extract  from  a  “  Historical  Sketch  of  Jeffer¬ 
son  College ,  published  bg  order  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in 
1840,”  page  79,  bears  out  this  statement: 

To  afford  an  opportunity  to  the  Legislature  of  placing  the  institution 
[Jefferson  College]  more  immediately  under  its  control  and  management, 
and  to  give  to  it  that  patronage  and  support  which  would  be  due  to  it  as  a 
State  institution,  the  trustees  proposed  to  the  next  session  of.  the  Legisla¬ 
ture,  in  January,  1825,  a  modification  of  their  charter.  The  act  of  the 
thirtieth  of  January,  1826,  was  accordingly  passed  and  accepted  by  the 
trustees. 

It  was  clearly  understood,  by  both  the  Legislature  and 
the  trustees  of  Jefferson  College  at  this  time,  1826,  that 
the  college  was  not  a  “  State  institution.” 

In  1829,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  adopted  a  resolu¬ 
tion  authorizing  the  Executive — 

To  appoint  three  agents  to  inquire  into  all  the  means  and  resources  in 
the  State  applicable  to  the  purposes  of  general  education  ;  to  confer 
with  the  trustees  of  Jefferson  College  and  ascertain  the  condition  and 
prospects  of  the  institution,  and  whether  it  was  practicable,  and  on  what 
terms  the  trustees  would  surrender  the  charter  to  the  State. 

The  conference  accordingly  took  place  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  Oc¬ 
tober,  1829,  and  an  address,  setting  forth  their  views  at  large,  was  pre¬ 
sented  by  the  agents,  accompanied  by  several  interrogatories  propounded 
by  them  as  to  the  dimensions  and  arrangements  of  the  college  building, 
the  endowments  and  available  funds,  the  number  and  character  of  the 


—  13  — 


professor?,  its  future  prospects,  the  expediency  of  surrendering  the 
charter,  and,  if  the  surrender  was  deemed  inexpedient,  what  report  the 
agents  should  make  to  the  Legislature  as  to  the  money  loaned  to  the  in¬ 
stitution.  (Extract  from  “ Historical  Sketch  of  Jefferson  College,”  page  83.) 

From  this  same  “Historical  Sketch,”  published  by  the 
trustees  of  Jefferson  College,  the  following  statements  are 
taken  (see  pp.  83,  84) : 

The  temper  of  the  board  assembled  on  this  occasion  was  most  favor¬ 
able  to  the  desires  of  the  agents.  The  investigation,  however,  given  the 
subject  by  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  reply  on  behalf  of  the 
trustees,  satisfied  not  only  the  trustees,  but  the  agents  themselves,  of  the 
utter  inexpediency,  if  not  impracticability,  of  the  measure. 

As  to  the  proposed  surrender  of  the  charter,  it  was  shown  that 
the  proposition  involved  not  merely  the  annihilation  of  Jefferson  College,  hut  the 
forfeiture  of  its  resources,  and,  consequently,  could  confer  no  benefit  to  any 
other  institution,  though  established  in  its  name;  that  it  could  not,  by  the 
clearest  principle  of  law,  transmit  its  revenues  or  endowments  to  an  institution 
erected  in  its  stead;  for,  as  to  all  purposes  to  which  they  were  designed, 
they  would  necessarily  fail  with  the  demise  of  the  corporation  in  which 
they  were  originally  vested.  .  .  .  The  land  on  the  Tombigby,  if  it  did 

not  revert  to  the  original  grantor,  would  escheat  to  the  State  of  Alabama. 

After  this  failure  to  secure  the  surrender  of  the  charter 
of  Jefferson  College  to  the  State,  in  1829,  on  account  of  the 
difficulties  indicated,  all  hope  of  the  State’s  gaining  con¬ 
trol  of  the  township  of  land  granted  by  Congress  to  Jeffer¬ 
son  College  was  lost,  and  the  Legislature  turned  its  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  proper  administration  of  the  trust  connected 
with  the  second  township  mentioned  in  the  act  of  Congress 
of  February  20,  1819,  and  received  previously  to  1825. 
With  this  single  township  as  a  basis,  the  State  has  been 
able  to  establish  and  maintain  a  university  superior  in  its 
facilities,  and  in  the  extent  and  character  of  its  work,  to 
what  has  been  accomplished  in  most  of  the  States  that 
have  received  two  or  more  townships  of  land  for  this  pur¬ 
pose. 


—  14  — 


The  single  township  received  from  Congress  was  well 
located,  the  lands  were  sold  at  a  good  price.  The  pro¬ 
ceeds  of  all  lands  granted  for  the  support  of  a  seminary  of 
learning  were,  by  the  act  of  the  Legislature  dated  Febru¬ 
ary  20,  1840,  “  appropriated  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  Mississippi.”  The  State  pays 
to  the  University,  annually,  the  sum  of  $32,643,  as  interest 
on  a  seminary  fund  of  $544,050.  The  buildings,  libraries, 
cabinets  of  apparatus,  museums,  and  various  improve¬ 
ments  made;  have  cost  at  least  $250,000.  Since  its  open¬ 
ing  in  1848,  the  University  has  had  an  average  attendance 
of  240  students.  It  has  graduated  more  than  1,100  from 
its  academic  and  law  schools.  At  the  present  time  many 
of  its  buildings  are  old  and  in  need  of  repairs.  Its  libra¬ 
ries  and  cabinets  need  many  additions  to  meet  the  require¬ 
ments  of  the  work  done  in  the  University.  New  depart¬ 
ments  of  instruction  need  to  be  added  in  order  to  keep  the 
scope  and  character  of  its  work  fully  abreast  with  what  is 
done  in  similar  institutions.  In  what  has  been  done  in 
the  administration  of  the  one  township  intrusted  to  the 
State  by  Congress  for  the  support  of  a  seminary,  Missis¬ 
sippi  can  challenge  comparison  with  any  State  that  has 
received  two  townships. 

Since  the  State  of  Mississippi  has,  for  the  reasons  pre¬ 
viously  stated  in  this  paper,  and  through  no  fault  of  the 
authorities  of  the  State,  failed  to  receive  one  of  the  two 
townships  of  land  which  it  was  evidently  the  intention  of 
Congress  to  grant  to  the  State  for  the  support  of  a  semi¬ 
nary  of  learning,  the  undersigned,  representing  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Mississippi,  to  which  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
has  appropriated,  by  the  act  of  February  20, 1840,  all  funds 
that  may  accrue  from  the  sale  or  lease  of  lands  granted  by 
Congress  for  seminary  purposes,  respectfully,  through  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  from  this  State, 


—  15  — 


memorialize  the  Congress  to  indemnify  the  State  of  Mis¬ 
sissippi  and  its  University  for  the  failure  of  title  to  one 
of  the  two  townships  of  land  intended  to  be  granted  by 
Congress  for  seminary  purposes,  as  shown  by  the  act  of 
Congress  of  the  twentieth  of  February,  1819. 

The  undersigned  are  encouraged  to  make  this  petition 
for  the  following  reasons: 

Equity  requires  that  Mississippi  should  not  be  allowed 
to  receive  merely  one  township  from  Congress,  when  every 
other  public  land  State  has  received  at  least  two. 

The  will  of  Congress  undoubtedly  was,  in  the  act  of 
February  20,  1819,  to  grant  two  entire  townships  in  trust 
to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  for  the  sup¬ 
port  of  a  seminary  of  learning. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  February  20,  1819,  may  evi¬ 
dently  be  construed  as  implying  that  Congress  considered 
Jefferson  College  to  be  an  institution  under  the  control  of 
the  Territorial  Legislature  in  Mississippi. 

In  fact,  Jefferson  College  was  at  the  first  a  private  cor¬ 
poration,  and  continues  to  exist  as  such  to  the  present 
time,  independent  of  State  control. 

But  even  if  it  had  been,  previously  to  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  Congress  of  February  20,  1819,  under  the  con¬ 
trol  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  (which  was  not  the 
case),  it  would  have  been  not  equitable  for  Congress  to 
turn  over  to  the  State  of  Mississippi,  upon  her  admission 
into  the  Union,  the  remnant  of  a  grant  of  land  which  had 
proved  utterly  .unprofitable  to  the  college,  and  which  was 
actually  located  in  another  State.  The  Territorial  Legis¬ 
lature  of  Mississippi  certainly  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  location  of  the  lands  granted  to  Jefferson  Col- 


—  16  — 


lege,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  location  was  so  badly  made 
that  the  trustees  ot  Jefferson  College  afterward  secured  a 
change  of  location  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  April  20r 
1832. 

In  Minnesota,  under  Territorial  administration,  the  two 
original  townships  named  in  the  act  of  Congress  of  Feb¬ 
ruary  26,  1857,  were  almost  lost  to  the  State.  When  the 
State  of  Minnesota  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  Congress, 
bv  the  act  of  July  8, 1870,  gave  to  the  State  two  townships 
in  addition  to  the  two  mentioned  in  the  act  of  February  26, 
1857.  The  language  of  the  act  of  July  8,  1870,  justifies 
the  statement  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Minnesota 
University  that  “  certainly  it  was  not  the  intention  of 
Congress  to  turn  over  the  debts  and  prospectively  incum¬ 
bered  lands  of  an  old  and  badly  managed  Territorial  in¬ 
stitution,  but  to  give  the  State  that  was  to  be,  a  grant  for 
a  State  university  free  from  all  connections  with  Terri¬ 
torial  organizations.”  (P.  296,  Bureau  of  Education  Cir¬ 
cular  of  Information  No.  1,  1890.) 

If  the  condition  and  prospects  of  Jefferson  College  in 
1819,  as  shown  in  the  authorized  historical  sketch  of  the 
college  referred  to  previously  in  this  paper,  had  been  fully 
shown  to  Congress  when  the  act  of  February  20,  1819, 
was  pending,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that,  even  if  Jef¬ 
ferson  College  had  been  under  Territorial  control,  Con¬ 
gress  would  have  acted  in  the  case  of  Mississippi  as  it  did 
in  the  case  of  Minnesota,  and  granted  to  the  State  an  un¬ 
incumbered  full  portion  of  land  for  a  seminary  of  learning. 

The  intention  of  Congress  to  grant  two  townships 
failed  through  no  lack  of  diligence  on  the  part  of  the  Leg¬ 
islature  of  the  State. 

It  can  be  shown  from  an  examination  of  the  land  laws 
of  Congress,  as  well  as  from  a  study  of  the  history  of  the 


—  17  — 


seminary  funds  in  the  several  other  States  and  Territories, 
twenty -one  in  number,  that  Congress  has  uniformity',,  excepting 
in  the  case  of  Mississippi,  taken  whatever  special  action  was 
necessary  to  secure  to  the  State,  when  admitted  into  the  Union , 
its  full  quota  of  seminary  lands.  In  the  case  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  when  there  was  danger  that  one  of  the  three  town¬ 
ships  reserved  by  Congress  for  the  future  State  might  be 
lost  to  the  State  in  the  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  John 
Cleves  Symmes,  within  whose  purchase  of  land  it  was  lo¬ 
cated,  Congress,  in  the  act  of  March  3,  1803,  instituted 
process  for  its  recovery,  and  provided  that,  if  this  process 
should  fail,  another  township  should  be  granted  in  lieu  of 
the  first.  In  fact,  another  was  granted  to  the  State,  out¬ 
side  the  Symmes  purchase.  (See  p.  30,  Circular  of  Infor¬ 
mation  No.  5,  Bureau  of  Education.) 

The  action  of  Congress  in  reference  to  the  seminary 
lands  of  the  State  of  Indiana  furnishes  a  most  striking 
precedent  for  such  action  as  is  asked  for  in  this  memorial. 
By  the  act  of  March  26,  1804,  one  township  was  reserved 
from  sale  for  the  support  of  a  seminary  in  the  district 
which  afterwards  became  the  State  of  Indiana.  The  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Legislature,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  November, 
1806,  granted  a  charter  to  the  “  Vincennes  University  ”  in 
terms  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  charter  of  Jeffer¬ 
son  College  in  Mississippi.  In  the  same  year,  the  Legis¬ 
lature  of  Indiana  Territory  gave  to  the  Vincennes  University 
the  seminary  township  reserved  from  sale  by  the  act  of  Con¬ 
gress  of  March  26,  1804.  “In  1822  an  act  was  passed  by 
the  General  Assembly  for  the  practical  confiscation  of  its 
lands  for  the  support  of  the  new  ‘  State  Seminary  ’  at 
Bloomington,  and  in  1824  the  State  formally  declared  the 
Vincennes  institution  extinct.”  It  was  charged  that  the 
“  trustees  had  negligently  permitted  the  corporation  to 
die.”  In  1845  the  corporation  of  Vincennes  University 


—  18  — 


was  revived  by  action  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  trustees 
laid  claim  to  the  lands  of  the  tirst  seminary  township, 
which  the  Legislature  had  transferred  to  the  State  Semi¬ 
nary  from  the  Vincennes  University.  In  accordance  with 
an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  dated  January  17, 
1846,  suit  was  brought  by  the  trustees  of  the  Vincennes  Uni¬ 
versity  against  the  State  of  Indiana  to  test  the  question  of 
title  to  this  land,  which  was  then  being  used  by  the  Indi¬ 
ana  University ,  into  which  the  “  State  Seminary  ”  had  been 
changed.  The  final  settlement  of  this  suit  was  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  at  the  December 
term,  1852,  and  in  favor  of  the  Vincennes  University. 
By  this  decision,  and  from  the  sales  made  by  the  trustees 
of  Vincennes  University  before  its  lands  were  transferred 
from  it,  the  State  University  of  Indiana  lost  control  of  one 
of  the  two  townships  intended  by  Congress  for  seminary 
purposes  in  the  State  of  Indiana.  The  loss  was  due  to  the 
fad  that  the  Territorial  Legislature  had  given  this  township  to 
Vincennes  University,  “  a  private  corporation.”  But  Con¬ 
gress,  by  the  act  of  July  12,  1852,  granted  to  the  State  of 
Indiana,  for  the  use  of  the  State  University,  a  tract  of  land 
equal  to  that  part  of  the  first  township  which  had  been 
disposed  of  by  the  trustees  of  Vincennes  University  be¬ 
fore  the  transfer,  and  on  the  twenty-third  of  February,  1854, 
made  full  restitution  to  the  University  of  Indiana  for  the 
land  which  it  had  lost  through  the  act  of  the  Territorial  Leg¬ 
islature,  thus  securing  in  trust  to  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Indiana  its  full  quota  of  two  entire  townships. 
The  statements  regarding  this  case  are  based  upon  the 
acts  of  Congress  cited,  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  publications  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education,  Circulars  of  Information 
Nos.  1,  1890,  and  1,  1891. 

If  the  State  of  Indiana  is  indemnified  for  the  failure  of 
title  to  a  township  of  land  for  seminary  purposes  due  to 


I 


—  19  — 


the  act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  should  not  Missis¬ 
sippi  be  indemnified  tor  a  similar  failure  of  title  caused  by 
defect  in  the  act  of  Congress? 

The  land  actually  received  by  the  State  of  Mississippi 
under  the  act  of  February  20,  1819,  consisting  of  one  town - 
ship,  was  located  when  there  were  valuable  public  lands 
subject  to  entry  in  the  State,  and  was  sold  at  an  average 
price  of  more  than  five  dollars  per  acre.  The  public  lands 
now  remaining  in  the  State  are  much  less  valuable,  and 
are  subject  to  entry  at  not  over  $1.25  per  acre.  Moreover, 
the  State  of  Mississippi  and  the  University  of  the  State 
have  been  deprived  ot  the  use  of  one  township  for  more 
than  fifty  years.  Therefore,  in  order  that  the  State  and 
the  State  University  may  be  fully  indemnified  for  the  fail¬ 
ure  to  make  title  to  good  and  valuable  lands  while  such 
were  open  to  entry  in  the  State,  Congress  is  urged  to 
grant,  for  the  reasons  stated,  three  townships  of  land  in 
lieu  of  the  one  to  which  title  failed.  Such  action  would 
give  to  the  State  of  Mississippi  a  full  quota  of  four  town¬ 
ships,  the  number  actually  granted,  up  to  the  present 
time,  to  each  of  the  following  named  States :  Florida  (act 
of  March  3,  18-15) ;  Wisconsin  (acts  of  August  6,  1846, 
December  15,  1854)  ;  Alabama  (acts  of  March  2,  1819, 
and  of  the  Forty-eighth  Congress,  1884.) 

It  is  earnestly  urged  that  the  following  be  made  a  law : 

An  Act  to  Indemnify  the  State  of  Mississippi  for  the  Failure  of  Title  to 

a  Township  of  Land  Intended  to  be  Granted  to  Said  State  on  IIer 

Admission  Into  the  Union. 

Whereas,  Through  the  peculiar  wording  of  the  act  of 
Congress  of  February  20,  1819,  the  State  of  Mississippi 
has  failed  to  receive  one  of  the  two  townships  of  land  in¬ 
tended  to  be  granted  by  Congress  as  her  quota  of  land 
for  the  support  of  a  seminary  of  learning,  and  has  not 


V 


.  -  '  •  y  <  C  7  . 

—  20  — 

only  been  deprived  of  the  use  of  said  township  for  many 
years,  but  has  lost  the  opportunity  of  selecting  it  from 
the  more  valuable  lands  of  the  public  domain  within  her 
borders ;  for  remedy  thereof  \ 

\  ,  ,  '  .  '  J  4, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled ,  That 
the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  be  authorized  to 
select  out  of  the  lands  of  the  United  States,  within  the 
said  State,  now  subject  to  private  entry,  sixty-nine  thou¬ 
sand  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  in  legal  sub¬ 
divisions,  being  a  total  equivalent  to  three  townships,  and 
shall  certify  the  same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
who  shall  forthwith,  on  receipt  of  said  certificate,  issue  to 
the  State  of  Mississippi  patents  for  said  lands ;  Provided, 
The  proceeds  of  said  lands,  when  sold  or  leased,  shall  be, 
and  forever  remain,  a  fund  for  the  use  of  the  University 
of  Mississippi. 


The  foregoing  statements,  and  all  of  this  memorial  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  are  approved,  and  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  from  Missis¬ 
sippi  are  respectfully  and  earnestly  urged  to  present  the 
matters  herein  stated  to  Congress,  and  to  urge  the  speedy 
enactment  of  such  a  measure  of  relief  and  indemnity  as 
is  indicated  above.  VN> 

(Signed)  Will  T.  Martin, 

Robert  H.  Thompson, 

W.  C.  Wilkinson, 

J.  A.  Orr, 

H.  F.  SlMRALL, 

Chas.  B.  Galloway, 


Chas.  B,  B 

— '  •  •  ry. 

R.  A.  Hill, 
Robert  Lowry, 
H.  A.  Barr, 

D.  McKenzie, 

J.  S.  McNeily, 
H.  L.  Muldrow, 


Members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Mississippi. 


